


Handle With Care

by specialisthalstead



Series: SWAT!Jay Alternate Universe [8]
Category: Chicago PD (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Date at the Shooting Range, F/M, Fluff and Humor, Guns, SWAT!Jay
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-01
Updated: 2020-06-01
Packaged: 2021-03-02 19:22:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,338
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24491959
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/specialisthalstead/pseuds/specialisthalstead
Summary: "Before we start shooting," Jay says in his best teacher voice, "we're gonna familiarize ourselves with the weapon first."Hailey sighs. "Jay, I told you I just wanted to shoot the damn thing once."
Relationships: Jay Halstead/Hailey Upton
Series: SWAT!Jay Alternate Universe [8]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1743577
Comments: 5
Kudos: 92





	Handle With Care

**Author's Note:**

> Also posted on [tumblr](https://bleedinghearthalstead.tumblr.com/post/619738859383799808/).

"Before we start shooting," Jay says in his best teacher voice, "we're gonna familiarize ourselves with the weapon first."

Hailey sighs. "Jay, I told you I just wanted to shoot the damn thing once." She has been begging Jay since they started dating and he's finally caved, but she certainly didn't expect her boyfriend to go all firearms instructor on her. It's 8 a.m. on a Sunday and they drove almost an hour outside the city to go to Jay's favorite outdoor shooting range. The owner greeted Jay like an old friend, immediately putting a box of the right ammo on the counter and telling him that his usual lane all the way in the back was free. Of course it was free, Hailey thinks, it's 8 a.m. on a Sunday.

Jay tuts at her. "If you want to handle _the damn thing_ , I'm gonna show you how to properly disassemble, clean and reassemble the Remington M24 Sniper Weapon System." He opens the rifle case and reverently takes out the M24, laying it out on a blanket that he's already spread out in front of where they're kneeling on the ground.

It's kind of fascinating to watch Jay disassemble the rifle with practiced ease. He's not even looking at what he's doing with his hands, removing the parts one by one by muscle memory, mostly looking at Hailey while he explains what every part is and does, making sure that she's paying attention. Once he has the rifle reassembled, he takes out a pouch with cleaning utensils and shows Hailey how to "maintain performance standard", brushing and scrubbing the inside of the barrel and wiping down the rest.

"Jay," Hailey groans, "you do remember that I've handled rifles before, right?"

He rolls his eyes. "Of course, but you gotta handle Loretta with care."

She stares at him with wide eyes, trying to hold back her laugh. "You named your sniper rifle 'Loretta'?"

Jay warns her, "If you laugh, I'm gonna pack up and leave." Hailey bites her lip trying hard not to laugh. Glaring at her, he folds up the bipod on the rifle with a snap.

"No no no, wait!" Hailey puts her hands on his to stop his movements and gives him an innocent smile, then schools her face into one of pure devotion. "Please teach me the Halstead way."

"I swear to God…" At her pout, he huffs. "Alright, fine." Hailey grins and claps her hands in excitement. "But you gotta let me do this my way."

"I promise I'll be good." He gives her the side-eye, but relents and continues with his lesson.

Clearing away all the tools he used to assemble and clean the weapon, he sets up the rifle on the blanket, right on the firing line, pointing it downrange. "The steadiest stance to shoot in is the prone position." He motions at Hailey. "Lie down on your stomach with your legs straight. Prop yourself up on your elbows." Tying her hair up in a messy ponytail first, she gets down on the ground and Jay gets up to adjust her arms and kicks her legs further apart until they form a nice Y-shape. Knowing she is a lefty, he continues, "Now put the butt of the rifle in your left shoulder close to your neck." Again, he moves her arms to the right positions ‑ right elbow on the ground just to the right of the rifle's forearm, right hand under the butt of the stock, left elbow on the ground, making sure that her shoulders are level. "Put your left hand on the pistol grip and pull the rifle into your shoulder."

Already comfortable in her position, Hailey rests her face firmly against the stock, looking straight down the sights. Letting her breath out slowly, she inches her trigger finger to its intended position, but before she can curl her finger around the trigger, Jay steps on her right foot. Her head snaps back and she glares at him. "Ow, what the hell, Jay!?"

He raises an eyebrow at her, clearly having seen that she was ready to pull the trigger. "Easy there, tiger. Your feet weren't flat on the ground-" He then smirks and holds up a single round with two fingers. "-and the rifle's not even loaded yet."

"Whoops." She lets out an embarrassed laugh, realizing that she let herself get caught up in the excitement of finally being allowed to hold the coveted sniper rifle after Jay's show-and-tell that lasted almost an hour. She doesn't think she's been this giddy about shooting a weapon since firearms training at the academy.

Jay shakes his head at her and laughs. He squats down next to her and instructs, "Raise the bolt handle and pull it all the way back." She does as she is told and he one by one pushes five cartridges down into the internal magazine. "Now slowly slide the bolt forward and push the handle down." When the handle slots into place, he puts a hand on her shoulder. "Loretta is now officially loaded."

Hailey rolls her eyes as he grins. "Can I shoot now?"

"Patience you must have, my young padawan."

"Please don't jump on my back." Hailey laughs. "Or make me carry you through a swamp."

"Feel the force!" Jay lets out an evil laugh in return and drops down on her back, making her squeal. Holding her down with his body weight but careful not to crush her, he starts tickling her sides, her arms trapped under her. Hailey squeals again and tries to buck up to push Jay off of her, but he doesn't budge. He does however stop tickling her and begins to kiss the side of her exposed neck instead, his hands roaming up and down her sides. She lets out a low moan and tilts her head up to give Jay a better angle.

Her boyfriend is in the middle of sucking a hickey on her neck, but Jay's lips freeze on her skin when someone clears their throat next to them. "I don't mean to interrupt…"

Jay jumps up and gives the shooting range owner a sheepish smile. "Hey, Walt."

Walt gives them both a look like he's a disapproving parent admonishing two teenagers. "There's other people here too, Jay, so try to keep it clean, will ya?"

"Sorry, Walt. It won't happen again."

The older man nods, then leans closer to Jay and whispers, "She's cute." He winks at him and turns to walk back towards the front office.

Watching them from her position still lying on the ground, it's the first time Hailey has ever seen Jay blush. She giggles. "Well, that was awkward."

"That was one dad talk that I didn't think I ever needed." Jay grimaces. "I might have to find a new shooting range."

Hailey snickers and slaps his ankle. "Calm down, let's just get back to teaching me how to become Badass Sniper Hailey."

Jay raises an eyebrow at her, then bows down and playfully slaps her butt. At her indignant look, he grins. "Let's get to it then, badass. Get back in the prone position." Checking her stance, he does some minor adjustments, then pulls out a spotter's scope from a compartment in the rifle case and lies down next to her. Using the scope to look downrange, he picks out a target for her about fifty yards away. Considering she does have experience with long guns, this should be an easy shot. "Target at fifty yards, you got it in your sights?"

Hailey looks up from the scope mounted on the rifle and scoffs at Jay. "Fifty yards? You serious right now?"

He sighs. "We'll work our way up. I want you to get used to the motions first."

"Fine." Huffing, Hailey goes back to looking down the sights. "Yeah, I got it."

"Any adjustments you need to make? The knob on the right side of the scope is for windage and the top knob is for elevation."

"No, I don't think so." Luckily for Hailey, it's a clear and sunny day with barely a breeze.

"Good. Now chamber a cartridge. Raise the bolt and pull it back until it stops. Push the bolt forward. The bolt removes a cartridge from the magazine and pushes it into the chamber. Push the bolt handle down." She follows his instructions and she can hear a round move into place. With the way Jay has been taking care of this weapon, it's no wonder the mechanics work so smoothly.

"To fire, switch off the safety and then squeeze the trigger. Now before you do, one last thing that is also one of the most important things when firing – your breathing has the most effect on your shot. Breathe in through your nose and slowly breathe out through your open mouth, try to relax and slow down your heart rate." He hears her take a couple of deep breaths. "Fire at will." Hailey breathes deeply a few more times before a shot rings out and hits the target with a metallic ping. "Good. You hit it between the 9 and 8 ring. So either there was some wind or you swayed to the left when you took your shot. Use the bolt action to chamber another round and try again." On the second shot that takes her considerably shorter to set up, Hailey hits the target inside the 10 ring. She's a fast learner and Jay beams at her in pride. "Let's move on to a hundred yards."

Jay lets Hailey take a few shots on the 100 yards target which she pretty much nails before he hands her another five cartridges and tells her to reload. Remembering what he showed her earlier, she easily manages the task and immediately chambers a cartridge, ready to shoot again. They continue moving from target to target in 50 yards increments. When they get to the 300 yards target and she hits it at the bottom of the 7 ring, she lets out an indignant huff. Jay chuckles at her. "We're shooting at a longer distance now, so you have to adjust the elevation on your scope."

Realigning her shot, Hailey hits the bullseye and her eyes widen when a metal plate on the target comes loose and reveals the words "will you". She is about to ask Jay what is up with that, but he has already moved on to their next target, telling her that he'll buy her a really nice bottle of champagne if she hits the bullseye on the first try. Challenge accepted, she again focuses on the target, this time taking her time to adjust the scope and concentrating on regulating her breathing. Deliberately squeezing the trigger, she hits the bullseye. Another metal plate folds down.

Instead of being pleased at herself for achieving the shot, having read the words on the target, she squeaks out a tiny "what" and turns up to Jay who is now on one knee next to her, holding a beautiful solitaire diamond ring out to her. "I know we've only been together for two years, but I love you so much and I know that I want to spend the rest of my life with you, so..." He takes a deep breath and gives her a hopeful smile. "Hailey Upton, you hit me right in the heart, will you marry me?"

Hailey feels like she's going through some sort of out of body experience, but she doesn't even have to think about it. "Yes!" She throws herself at Jay and kisses him fiercely. He laughs into their kiss and wraps his arms around her, hugging her tightly.

Pulling back, Jay takes her left hand and slides the ring onto her finger. "It's my mom's ring," he whispers, "She would've loved you too."

Hailey's heart warms infinitely and she takes Jay's face into her hands to kiss him again. Breaking their kiss and leaning her forehead against his, she whispers back, "I love you."

"Congrats, kids!" There's the sound of a cork popping and Walt is back with a bottle of champagne and flutes. There's also cheering coming from far away that's moving closer and Hailey laughs and watches as Jay's team mates come running towards them from downrange, whooping and whistling loudly.

Jay grins. "Walt and the boys helped me set this up. Sorry for stepping on your foot, but you almost ruined your own proposal, they weren't done with the plates yet."

At that moment, the guys descend on where they were set up and Mitch slings an arm around each of them and gives them a bear hug yelling, "YAY, GUYS!"

They all laugh and Walt hands out champagne glasses to all of them. "To Hailey and Jay!" They all raise their glasses and cheers to the couple.

"Since we're here already …" Sam, Jay's spotter, pulls out a different rifle case out of nowhere. "I'm gonna beat you this time, Halstead."

Jay groans. "Dude, you're seriously bringing this up right now? I just got engaged!"

The two of them start bickering and the other team guys start laying in as well, but Hailey doesn't care, she's on cloud nine right now. This is definitely not how she imagined being proposed to, but it went down in pure Jay Halstead fashion and it's perfectly them.

They end up spending the rest of the day at the range, Jay and Sam, who is also an ex-army sniper, doing trick shots (and where did the cooler full of beer come from?) until Hailey leans down to Jay while he is lining up a shot and whispers, "Do I need to compete with Loretta or can I spend some time alone with my fiancé?"

Jay takes his shot, but doesn't even hit the target in the black and packs up his gear. The guys watch them knowingly and start wolf-whistling. Jay just gives them the finger and Hailey waves at them as he drags her behind him.


End file.
